Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Tejashwi Yadav on Monday met West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, and announced that his party will support the Trinamool Congress in the upcoming state elections in West Bengal, the Hindustan Times reported.

“We will lend support to Mamata Banerjee wherever needed,” Yadav said, according to News18. “The priority is to stop the BJP [Bharatiya Janata Party] at all costs.”

Asserting that the decision to support the Trinamool Congress was backed by his father and party chief Lalu Prasad Yadav, he appealed to people from Bihar, living in West Bengal to vote for Banerjee’s party which is in power in the state, according to the Hindustan Times.

“This election is about protecting Bengal and its culture, which is unique,” he said. “This is a fight to save Bengal’s values.”

He also drew a comparison between BJP and Banerjee, suggesting that while the saffron party failed to generate jobs or help migrant workers amid the coronavirus pandemic, the West Bengal chief minister was helping people “on the streets”, the Hindustan Times reported.

On Monday evening, Yadav tweeted about his meeting with Banerjee, accusing the Centre of attacking the federal structure and constitutional institutions.

Banerjee thanked Yadav for the support, and said that he had done well in the Bihar Assembly elections in November. “The BJP cheated in Bihar and stopped him from winning,” the West Bengal chief minister said. “The RJD was defeated by fraud. It will form government in Bihar sooner than later.”

The elections to the 294 seats in West Bengal will be held in eight phases from March 27 to April 29. The results will be declared on May 2. The state will see a three-cornered fight between the Trinamool Congress, the BJP and an alliance between Left parties, Congress and the Indian Secular Front.